Teka sneezing a lot?

[tekas_mommy]

Hi everyone!! I just brought my new baby, Teka, home last Tuesday. She has been doing great, but now she is starting to sneeze a lot. I also think she got too cold last night, and I do not know how to remedy the problem. I guess she just seems a little sluggish and is sneezing quite a bit. What could be the problem?

[mmartinez1987]

Take her to a vet. She might possibly have a URI and will need meds if so. Also what is the temperature where you keep her. It should be one constant temerature between 72-78 degrees. What kind of bedding is she on? If she is on wood chips I would suggest switching to liners. The oils in the wood chips can affect their respitory system.

[Nancy]

She needs a vet, today! It sounds like she has a URI and URI's quickly progress to pneumonia. Sluggishness is a sign of attempting to hibernate and being too cool but it is also a symptom of illness and pneumonia. Do not wait to take her to the vet to be treated.

Give her a heat source to sleep on as she needs warmth right now. Make sure she can move away from the heat though incase it is too warm.

[HedgieMate]

At a time of a hibernation attempt, a human heating pad would work well to provide extra warmth to your hedgehog throughout the day. However, please keep in mind that a heating pad is NEVER enough to keep your hedgie warm alone. You still need to keep the room temperature above the bare min. of 72ºF or between 74ºF & 77ºF. Since your hedgie is already showing a sign of hibernation, you may need to keep her room even warmer.

If you use a heating pad for added warmth until you take her to a vet, make sure to keep it in the LOW setting and wrap it with a baby receiving blanket or something so that your hedgie doesn't have direct contact with the device. There was a case on another discussion board where a hedgehog sustained a "moderate-temperature" burn from a human heating pad. As Nancy said, it's extremely important for you to make sure your hedgie can move away from the pad when she gets too warm.

Hope your little one will receive proper vet care ASAP. Wishing her a quick and full recovery!

[hemi_mygirl]

I have one girl who is rather prone to hibernation, and what I’ve found works is turning her heating pad on for a few hours in the evening, while wrapping her bag in a fleece blanket. I also have a space heater going 24/7 to maintain a nice even temperature. It seems to work well and her hibernation attempts have stopped altogether.

So, you might want to try wrapping her hedgehog bag (if she has one) in a fleece blanket or receiving blanket. It will help retain any heat she gets from the heating pad and keep her extra snuggly. But don’t forget the space heater and vet visit!

[tekas_mommy]

Thanks everyone for the advice!! I took Teka in to the vet, and they said she was fine. Happy as can be and now she is constantly toasty warm!! :D

Another question: She seems to have a dry patch on her ear. Is it just dry skin, or maybe something else.

I have been watching it very very closely and it does not seem to be getting worse.

[Loves2LoveChins]

For the dry patch on the ear you can try rubbing some bag balm on it or some coconut oil or vitamine E. Sometimes hedgehogs ears can get dry especially during the winter time when there is less moisture in the air.

[Hathery]

BTW, awesome job on getting Teka to the vet so quick! You'd be surprised how often people drag their feet on that issue...